Pawel Jonca

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One of Poland’s most recognised illustrators, Pawel Jonca has a slew of awards to his name and has worked for some of the most respected publications and agencies both in his own country and around the world. There is a charming minimalism to his work, yet it’s filled with subtle texture, big graphical gestures, and a surprising amount of emotion too. Pawel’s father was an architect so he grew up surrounded by drawing materials, and he followed in his father’s footsteps to train in that profession. But after graduating, the artist in Pawel broke through and began to shine. At a chance meeting in a creative agency one day, he put himself forward as an illustrator and has never looked back. Aside from creating beautiful imagery, Pawel’s passion is running. He took up the sport several years back and has now run over 9000km, and collected over 40 finisher’s medals from various events. He’s also lost over 16kg as well.

Training

Pawel qualified as an architect, but found that he preferred working on his own and using his drawing skills to make storyboards, graphics and illustration work. This led to a career freelancing for agencies and a range of publications.

Approach

When he approaches a project, Pawel focuses on the idea first, breaks down the concepts and makes the imagery as clear and engaging as possible. The illustration itself is created using a graphics tablet and Corel Painter, alongside Adobe Creative Cloud.

Styles

Despite its digital origins, Pawel’s images have a lovely, painterly finish to them. He’s an artist who avoids labels, but you’ll detect a touch of Picasso-style Cubism in his work, a little of Maigret’s surrealism, Saul Bass’ graphical sensibility, and plenty of Pawel’s own inspiration.

Awards

2011 GrandFront award - professional magazines category 2011 KTR Advertising Creators Club Gold - portfolio category 2011 KTR Advertising Creators Bronze - press illustration category 2009 Silver Chimera award – portfolio category 2005 Chimera award – portfolio category 2004 Chimera award – portfolio category